Almost Lovers
by ToxicCloudz
Summary: LUNA X LAVI IS BACK! And with a new Story Line! Can Luna ever get past her unsocial boyish side to realize her feminine side has feelings for the read head? And can Lavi see that Luna isn't just some other memory to remember? Luna X Lavi OC x Lavi, yeah, you get the idea... WARNING. There is French in the beginning. (not translated but you get the point of what they're saying)
1. Chapter 1

_**Almost Lovers**_

**TCz: Soooo I woke up out of nowhere one morning and decided to revive a very very old OCxCanon couple of mine... probably the one I was most famous for...**

**Luna: You mean I'm back?**

**TCz: Da. .-.**

**Lavi: OwO**

**Luna: Damn.. And here I was enjoying the vacation.**

**TCz: Well... you've changed a lot. You're not like you once were.**

**Luna: Wha-*poof***

**Lavi: AH! WHERE'D SHE-**

**TCz: *sips her coffee* You'll see soon.**

Alarms rang wildly, a voice booming through the halls, screeching a name that made everyone cold to the bone. The mess hall had gone quiet, the showers turned off, and all bodies as still as statues. People panicked, grabbing clothes to get dressed in, running for cover in their rooms, plates of food and drinks being spilled everywhere, hollering and cries of horror everywhere.

The excitement drove Lavi to a panic, looking everywhere, trying to figure out which group to follow and over react with.

"W-WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE. WE NEED TO TAKE COVER. SOMEONE-WHAT DO WE DO?" his face went pale as he flailed around wildly.

Next to him, a smaller body sat hardly motionless, a spoon popped in their mouth as they sucked the last bit of their vanilla pudding away.

"Stop screaming, your voice is more obnoxious than everyone else's" they grumbled softly. The red head huffed down at the little bleached haired exorcist.

"There's an Akuma walking right up to our door-way! How am I supposed to act?" he whined. The white haired exorcist sat up, pushing away their tray topped with at least a dozen empty pudding cups.

"You're an exorcist, right? Why don't you handle it?" she opened a turquoise eye up to the older one. He paused for a moment before smiling sheepishly. The smaller one twitched, urked by how much her companion in arms was such an idiot. Just before she could take a nice swing at his face, the intercom went off, announcing that another exorcist had gone to take care of it.

Lavi sat back and sighed with relief "Bakanda's got it, so we have nothing to worry about." he smirked proudly.

"Lazy fuck." the bleach haired one shrugged, leaving her seat and stuffing her hands into her pockets where they were safe to not sock someone.

"H-Hey! Where are you going?!" Lavi gasped, leaning back to see past the crowd of people just sitting back down to clean up their mess of food.

"We have a mission to get to, let's go." she glanced over her shoulder while continuing on.

"Wait up! I'm supposed to be going with you!" he pouted, snatching both trays before rushing towards her, dumping the plates by the garbage. "At least throw your own trash out, Luna." he muttered under his voice.

_It was about a year ago when I was brought into the Order... A year away from the cold lifeless house i stayed in because I didn't know what I was supposed to do with my life._

Kanda unloaded himself from the train, the engine making thin steam fall to the floor and cover the platform. He would have nearly missed his stepping if it wasn't for his keen eye that saw the huge gap between solid land and the tracks. Looking out, the exit was just a simple archway made of polished white stone, carved to look like a bush holding dozens of roses. Outside, the empty hill lands of France laid before him. It was a small town, he didn't remember the name, but he knew why he was there. It was an easy job from the sound of it, so he recommended being solo.

After just a few steps away from the station, his Finder approached him with a warm welcome in french. The Japanese man knew none of the language, which was an annoyance, but his Finder knew it very well, being of previous residence here, so he was thankful for that at least.

As they traveled down the flattened gravel path, the Finder explained to him everything he knew and all the evidence he gathered, noting how he hadn't seen the innocence with his own eyes yet, but that dead akuma have been lying in the streets, which means this innocence had an accommodator who was defending themself, and probably anxious or nervous.

To Kanda's hopes, they wouldn't put up a fight with him.

After spending hours upon hours, traveling through the country, asking locals if they have seen anything strange, they finally entered the center of the surrounding town, the Monday morning market rather empty. Elders stood behind booths, wrapped up for warmth and coughing occasionally, a small bug probably passing through the town. Just as the Finder began conversing with an owner of a cabbage cart, a loud scream could be heard echoing over the cobblestone road. The Exorcist didn't hesitate to rush to the source, weapon drawn to find three large, ill colored men surrounding something. A woman off to the side screamed again in panic, fearing for the worse of whoever was receiving so vile treatment to be ganged on. Kanda was at least a block away, cursing about how annoying Akuma were when they got in his way, when suddenly, the men began to drop, one by one. Just meters away now, the Japanese man stopped in his tracks.

A young looking boy stood where the Akuma once did, Fists balled and turquoise eyes sharp and firing with anger. What caught Kanda's eye last was the ice covered fists and didn't notice until another Akuma ran from an alley way and was knocked in the teeth soon later. All fallen akuma vanished, and the lad dropped his arms, face twisted as if annoyed that the fight was no match, like it had happens hundreds of times before. Kanda blinked, watching the ice disappear into tiny crystals, falling to the ground. The frozen water must've been inches thick around their fists, so the pain on impact must've been massive.

The Japanese man had been staring too much, and the boxer caught his gaze before pointing a finger at them aggressively.

"Pointez l'épée à moi et vos dents seront assommé!" they hissed. Kanda blinked, unsure of how to react, but put his Mugen away unconsciously.

"Madame, nous sommes venus pour vous aider." the Finder gasped, jumping in front of Kanda, bowing his head apologetically. The two conversed for a while, a mixture of smart alley smirks to confusing shrugs and back to sharp anger before Kanda got annoyed. He eyed at his finder before he laughed sheepishly.

"Sorry. She says that her doesn't know what kind of punks have been after her, but she's been handling them on her own pretty well."

"THAT'S A WOMAN?" the exorcist gasped. The finder nodded, making Kanda choke, cheeks a tad pink before being professional again. "Does she know the power she has?" the blue haired man raised a brow.

"Well, sort of. She never heard of Innocence before. She just sort of does it. The locals are used to it too."

"So then we can take her to the Order." Kanda nodded, stepping up to the French girl. Her features wouldn't make one think she was a girl. Baggy black turtleneck, no chest, no curves or hips to hint at a woman. Skinny and tiny, a few inches shorter than the exorcist. Her 1 inch white hair would almost be like a boy's cut if not for the long ban that covered the left side of her face.

The woman looked up at Kanda, brow arched. Her face obviously read "Do you need something?" but Kanda didn't bother with formalities. He grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her in the direction to the train station.

Bad move.

Before Kanda knew it, he was falling over his side, cheek hot and numbed by pain, maybe a little bit of blood on his tongue as the young one socked him in the face. The exorcist collected himself quick though, ticked by the warm hello before wrapping his arms around her waist, slugging her over his shoulder. The girl began to kick and scream, cursing and disgracing him in French, loud enough for the whole market to hear before he marched off with her.

"M-Mister Kanda!" the Finder gasped.

"Ask the locals where she lives and get any clothes and belonging she might want." Kanda quickly replied, ending the Finder's any future questioning.

The kicking, screaming and fighting never ended until the woman eventually passed out on the train, but was soon awoken when they arrived at their stop, and rather rudely, since Kanda didn't even bother to wake her before slugging her over his shoulder. The French cursing and beating continued all the way to the order, where to mostly everyone's luck, was prepared since the Finder called in before their arrival to... warn them. Once they heard yelling, ear muffs were put on.

The French woman didn't even know where she was, but she didn't like anywhere this guy was taking her, and refused to give up fighting. It wasn't till they were at the giant gothic style entrance that she froze under the stone face. With a loud thump, Kanda dropped her on the ground to be checked and scanned. Frightened by being under the light, she froze like a deer in headlights, but once the clear was given, she tried to make a break for it. It worked to no luck though as the Japanese man was quick to snatch her. He was a bit happy he tied her wrists together so she couldn't slug him again. His cheek was pretty badly bruised from their last ordeal. Again the shouts started, and that's when the doors creaked open and a certain red head rushed out to the rescue.

"Bakanda! Don't you have any respect for people at all?! The poor guy is scared to death." the childish teenager huffed before slowly approaching the French woman.

"Pardonnez mon ami. Il n'a pas de manières." the bookman said softly with a smile. The white haired maiden froze and glanced at him, a bit shocked that someone finally understood her tongue.

"Pouvez-vous me dire où diable suis-je?" she hissed quickly.

Lavi laughed sheepishly before answering. "Vous êtes à l'Ordre Noir. Nous sommes une organisation déployés pour lutter contre les mauvaises personnes qui ont été vous attaquent dans votre ville."

"Je leur manipulation très bien, merci."

"Eh bien, le truc, c'est que vous avez quelque chose d'important à vous. Nous avons donc besoin de toi ici pour vous maintenir sûr." Lavi chuckled softly.

"Puis-je vous le donner?" she asked, reaching into her pockets, searching for anything they might want.

"Ce n'est pas aussi simple que ça." Lavi deadpanned.

"Comment cela?" the girl raised a brow.

"Cela fait partie de votre corps." the red head replied dryly before taking another step closer. "Nous ne sommes pas ici pour vous faire du mal. Nous tenons à vous protéger, et si vous le pouvez, combattre avec nous. Les choses que vous attaquent aussi tuer des gens et veulent détruire le monde. C'est pourquoi nous existons. Je vais vous expliquer plus à vous plus tard, mais nous avons à vous pénétrer à l'intérieur et je suis parti avec les médecins." He was trying to get her into the order and peacefully as possible while also telling her of her new role in the order.

The French girl glanced at Kanda, then to the red head, the giant door and finally on Lavi at last.

"Puis-je porter plainte à votre superviseur au sujet de ce connard?" she pointed a finger up at the japenese man.

"Oui." Lavi bursted into laughter, gesturing her towards the open gate. Kanda just stood there quietly watching her leave, not wanting to be close to her, afraid it might tick her off and cause him more trouble.

"Really Kanda, I'd hate to see how you treat women after treating such a small boy like this." Lavi pouted as he followed behind the white haired exorcist.

Kanda smirked as the gates began to close. "She is a girl actually." he said in a smart-ass tone. He had just in time to see Lavi freeze in place as his whole body turned red with embarassment. No one could blame him though. The Exorcist looked so much like a boy...

**TCz: I'm not translating a SINGLE BIT of this, just because there's way too much. But I guess you can get the basics of it… I think…**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Almost Lovers**_

**TCz: Got bored, didn't feel like drawing or playing Skyrim, so I decided to write.**

* * *

"Luna, wake up" Lavi whispered, nudging the sleeping bleach haired girl next to him. Opening her eyes, half her vision was blinded by the bang that covered her right eye, the other fogged for some reason. Slowly sitting up and stretching her arms up to the ceiling, she noticed the thin layer of ice covering the corner of the cart she was sitting in. Her brows furrowed, eyes holding a faint painful gaze as her lips curled crookedly. Lavi noticed her stare, and was quick to explain. "I think you were having a nightmare. You kept muttering things and you looked like you were nervous. Then the ice started spreading, so I thought I'd wake you up." He muttered lower, afraid she could be upset or concerned about something.

Glancing at the sight, the ice began to shrivel and break apart into tiny crystals before falling down to the red seats, soaking into the thin velvet fabric. "No, I'm fine." She shrugged before leaning back into her seat, gazing out the window. This wasn't an innocence pick up, but a finder suddenly went missing in the area, so the two were sent to check.

Lavi didn't question her anymore, and went back to a book the Bookman had given him, telling him to catch on.

Despite her calm expression, she actually knew what was itching at her, as this dream had been bothering her for a long time, but it's been happening more lately.

* * *

Luna had gone through the exams and testing. She had met the man named Komui and the other scientists, including Lenalee and now knew of Kanda, who kidnapped her. They explained to her what she was and why she had it, and Lavi translated since she only knew French. English was something she knew very little of.

Because of her tongue, Komui assigned Lavi and Bookman the job of teaching her English. So once everything was situated and paperwork done, her schedule was very tight and simple. She'd wake up, eat breakfast, have Komui run some tests on her innocence, train, eat lunch, spend an hour or two learning English from the bookmans, help with the scientists do their paperwork, eat dinner, and go to bed. Every day was a repeat, except on some holidays where her afternoon consisted of celebration. Living in such a lively castle, it was different at first, and even a bit uncomfortable, but after a month or two, she got used to it. Just over half a month, and she was able to have a complete simple conversation with the other scientists. The more English she learned, the easier it was to learn. And by the time she was almost 2 months in to being a year in the order, she was already a natural at it.

The finders were kind enough to pack up her wardrobe and simple things when she first came to the Order. After all, there wasn't much in the house but food, a table with a chair, a bed, a little less than a dozen pair of clothes, and a rabbit doll her grandpa had given her.

Her grandpa… Though Lina lived alone in the house alone, while she was little, her grandpa would come down the hill at the top of the village and take care of her, walk her around town, and introduce her to locals. He wasn't her legitimate grandfather, but she considered him once since he was old and shriveled, though his skin was pale and perfect, like porcelain. Just like her skin. He even had white hair like her, but his eyes were silver while hers were turquoise.

Luna felt… warm around her grandfather. It was lovely during the winter time how the snow would fall so softly when they went on a stroll, and then lightly land on the ground at night, tucking her home away in a soft blanket of white flakes. She was mostly scared when blizzards hit, because her grandpa would easily get sick, and she'd care for him, making him soup and hot drinks to keep him warm to fight the illness. By the time the snow storms ended, he would be healthy again, and happy to see her so affectionate towards him.

And then one day, he died; quietly in his sleep, the old man passed on with a soft smile on his face as he sat in the chair downstairs, watching the snowfall outside. The air that day was very sharp and empty, the cold stinging at Luna's skin. By this time, she was almost a young adult, and was able to care for herself. Out of pitty, the villagers gave her discounts on food every now and then, and give her flowers every year when she went to visit his grave just up the hill before you got to his house.

Luna had never seen the inside of his house, but never had the courage to walk in. No one ever bought the house, and the people never posted it up for sale. The old man had been a longtime friend to them all, and giving away his home would be a shame.

* * *

Luna and Lavi had found the Finder, lost inside the sewers as his map was washed away in sludge and he had no way of remembering a way back. And, as it turned out, the thought of innocence being in this town, and locals had been whispering of strange noises coming from beneath the streets only ended up being a huge infestation of giant rats that multiplied into the amount of an army. After getting lost themselves and finally finding a way out, the exorcists bunked in a nearby hotel for the night while the Finder went off to investigate the neighboring town.

"I'm going to go get us something to eat. Want anything specific?" Lavi asked with a kind friendly smile. Luna looked away from the window she was staring at and looked up at the booman.

"I'm in the mood for some sandwiches if you don't mind." She replied.

"Human sized or a mountain full?" the red head laughed. Luna, being a parasitic type, was always willing to help herself to a huge amount of food. Though whenever she was mocked of for it, she's be stubborn, and eat nothing but normal sized servings till her body went weak and had to stuff her face with vanilla pudding back at the Order.

"Don't make that face, I was only kidding. I be back soon." He waved his hand before exiting the door. The apartment they had gotten was a one room, two twin sized beds, a drawer and a night table to share. Luna took the bed closest to the giant window since she had a personal rule that 'Men must sleep closest to the door so if someone breaks in, the woman won't be harmed.' It was something she grew up reading in books the bookman would give her to help advance her vocabulary. Sitting cross legged in her bed, she looked back out the window and gazed at the small town below the hotel. It was a much busier town than her home, the homes clustered closer together, and the farms limited in size since the place was only good for raising cattle and chickens. With the constant cold, crops would shrivel and die before even growing a leaf. The fire lit lamps and windows made it look like there were fireflies floating still over a cold frozen lake, shrouded in black by trees and bushes. This was Luna's only real chance to be out since winter was her strongest season, being that her innocence relied on ice, and little of water. Summer would just melt everything away and make her bones feel weak. She was prone to being sick, so Komui had her on a schedule for the year of when it was okay and not okay to go out on missions. She spent her summer learning English, and was ready by the time it was winter.

Luna began to wonder on how people were doing back at the Order, and if Kanda took care of the Akuma that walked up to the castle. More than likely it would be dead since Kanda doesn't waste time on his killings.

Lavi returned sooner than she had expected, and was surprised to see him bearing so much food. "I didn't know what kind of sandwiches you liked, so I went ahead and picked everything. Whatever you don't want, I'll take." He sighed, placed them on her bed before sitting in his next to.

"Thanks." Luna blinked, reaching forward to snatch the one with Provolone, salami and mayo. Lavi went ahead and took the Provolone with shredded beef. The two gorged themselves silently, every now and then glancing out the window to watch the few people who traveled down the roads.

"Having any trouble with understanding English?" Lavi asked after swallowing his fourth bite. Luna glanced at him, still chewing before forcing it down her throat early.

"My English has been doing very well. The scientists at the Order say things that have to deal with their sort of things. I think one word was 'Chromosomes' if I said it correctly?" she cringed, afraid to say it wrong.

Lavi nodded "Yes, that's correct. That has to deal with science. I don't think that really matters to you, but if you want to know more about it, I'm sure Johnny or Reever will be glad to help you learn on the subject. As long as you can ask questions and know what people are answering and respond correctly, that's what matters." The red head nodded before taking another bite.

"There's so much to learn… It's hard to imagine I can learn everything there is to say in English."

"Well everyone learns something new every day." Lavi responded, his food stuffed to his cheek so he could speak. Luna shook her head and continued to eat. She ate 3 more sandwiches than Lavi did, but had enough to eat on the train. Komui called in just as they got the room saying that they were going to meet a new exorcist over at another town. Some innocence was located there. The two would have to rest up to be prepared. Bookman was going to meet them on the train, so Lavi wasn't so excited about that.

After finishing their food and cleaning up, the two laid cozied up under the thick sheets the innkeeper provided. An hour passed and Lavi was having a hard time sleeping, the contents of the book he was currently reading boggling him while Luna lying close by was fast asleep.

The red head glanced over, thinking he had heard something, but then shrugged it off and closed his eyes when a louder noise came up next to him.

"Grandpa… it's cold." Luna muttered hugging the sheets tighter over her shoulder. Lavi glanced over, staring at the back of her head. It wasn't the first time she muttered in her sleep, but he always like listening in, hoping that he could learn more about her. Hevlaska did say she was one for the books…

* * *

Luna was stunned, frozen in the giant white maiden's tentacle grip as she examined Luna's innocence. Lavi, Bookman and Komui all watched it and Hevlaska mentioned as her innocence was split in half, both existing in her arms, but had no sight of where they connected.

"What is her prophecy in the Order, Hevlaska?" Komui asked, almost dying to know. She was going to be his latest subject and what not, so he was just dying to know.

Hevlaska took a long moment to look before speaking again. "Her future has already been pre-determined before her existence. Her future does not lie with us though." She said slowly, never removing her touch from the awe-struck bleach haired girl. All three waited patiently as the keeper continued to read.

And then Hevlaska smiled, slowly placing down the stunned girl. "She is definitely on for the books, this one." She released Luna for Lavi to hold as her legs were weak.

"And her innocence? Can you tell me more?" Komui uttered, feeling there was extra information she forgot to mention.

"Her innocence is not a stranger to my eyes. I have seen it before." Hevlaska added. Komui arched a brow before smiling.

"Thank you Hevlaska that is all I needed to know. Lavi, help me take our newest guest to the clinic. I want to get a better look at her arms."

* * *

"It's cold out… you can't go." Luna cried softly, her knees bending up closer to her chest. Lavi watched quietly when ice suddenly began to sprout over the sheets. Her threw the covers off and stepped over to her side, shaking her shoulder slowly.

"Luna… Luna, wake up. You're dreaming again." He whispered with a hiss. The girl's eyes flew open, jumping an inch before glancing over to see her partner in arms over her. "You were dreaming again." he quickly said, backing up and pointing at the ice on her sheets. She glanced down to see it was true, and groaned in annoyance, shaking the sheets to break off the ice that then disappeared.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you up." She grumbled. It was unfair to him to keep him up, but bothering her as well. Would it continue on like this? Rolling back over in her bed, she pulled the sheets higher to hide her face as she attempted to go back to sleep. Lavi did the same and fell asleep rather quickly, despite the troubling thoughts going through his head.

The train was running that day, and the two exorcists stood on the platform, one annoyed and the other not so excited. Luna just wanted to get the work done quickly while Lavi wanted to train to never come because of who was waiting on it for him.

* * *

Standing crossed armed and tapping her foot against the ground, Luna glowered in the direction the train should have been coming from, telepathically threatening the conductor to speed it up. The red head next to her was quietly studying his companion for quite some time.

"You okay from last night? You've been a little… angry today." He frowned a bit. Turning over her shoulder to look at him, surprised that he was speaking to her, gave a simple shrug and stared off into the forest across the tracks.

"I'm fine. I'm just angry because it's early and I didn't get a good sleep is all." She said simply. Lavi decided to not push it on from there, but the curiosity was killing him. Before he could open his mouth though, the train came around the bend, blowing it's horn aloud for the whole land to hear while coming to a screeching halt. "Well, let's get this over with." Luna sighed, jumping ahead onto the train. Lavi soon followed behind.


	3. Chapter 3

The train rolled into the next city with an ear piercing screech. It was just a few hours ago where Luna and Lavi had left the last town too. Lavi had to go make a phone call to bookman, leaving her alone in a booth for hours. To her rotten luck, the people in the booth next door had a loud screaming child that wouldn't stop crying. It didn't take long either for Luna to be ticked and almost punch a hole through the wall to hush the kid. However, the Order would be mad at her if they had to pay for damages to a train _again. _Plugging her ears with a protective coating of ice, it barely muffled out the annoyance. Lavi was lucky he was busy on the phone, leaving Luna to watch over their bags too. When the train finally stopped, the child ceased screaming, and Luna made a quick bolt to get off, lugging all the bags behind her. Standing on the platform, she quietly looked around, searching for her geeky red head to soon find his beaming smile heading for her.

"Sorry it took so long. Bookman nags too much. He had to leave early because the Akuma really did damage to a group of finders. They ever followed them as they tried to escape, so Panda is escorting them." He sighed, mostly of relief. Luna crossed her arms and shook her head. No Bookman meant Lavi was going to be his crazy-self which was the last thing Luna wanted to deal with. "Was the train ride okay for you?" he asked in that cheerful whispy voice of his.

"Annoying." The exorcist grimaced, the distant sound of a screaming child making her twitch. Her companion frowned, displeased. He was hoping she would be in a good mood. A happy Luna made his day easier and her fists off his body. Despite the look on her face though, she was actually in a very neutral zone now. "Be a gentleman and carry these for me." She smirked, throwing her bags at him and walking off. Lavi caught them at a last minute and followed at her side.

"Komui ordered we make this mission quick and locate the innocence before re run into anymore Akuma." Lavi muttered to keep strange ears from hearing as they passed a pastry shop. Luna hesitated in step as a flashback of her General ordering her to be safe passed by. Klaud was upset to let her go without her on this mission, but being stuck in that castle was really driving Luna up a wall and she had enough with training. Being outside was so far really unwinding and relaxing. Couldn't be better either with Lavi on the mission with her. He may be a huge flirt with lots of women, but he was at least practical with the rest of things, which actually made her job even easier.

Lavi was happy to have Luna with him on these missions as well. He really felt comfortable with the exorcist and knew she could have his back in a moment's notice in the case of an ambush. That and he just really felt at peace in her presence. Thinking it over, she had improved greatly since arriving at the order for the first time. Her English would make anyone this it was her first language. When he got back, he was going to have to tell Komui she was ready for a solo mission without a translator.

"Oh, I just realized." Lavi blinked, stopping for a second. Luna raised a brow to her comrade, stopping next to him. A wide grin spread across his face "I have a friend who lives in this town. He used to work for the Black Order. Maybe afterwards, we can stop by and say hi."

"Sure." Luna nodded.

Stopping by the inn to drop off her bags, Lavi decided in the presence of the room alone would be the best place to inform of her what's been going on in the area.

"Our finders have lots of evidence to believe the innocence is in this town, and more specifically, in a 3 blood radius of the northern market. They went back to the order before any Akuma could take them out. Order is being really strict about anyone being out and about." The bookman sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Even though the innocence was here, searching for it was something neither enjoyed.

Luna shrugged "Alright, let's go." She said simply, heading back out the door. Lavi blinked, rather surprised that she wasn't physically exploiting any disappointment. Nonetheless, he followed and the two began their search.

Lots of women in the town have been acting strangely for the past few months. One day they're nobody and then next, the whole town is talking about them, but then after that, they disappear and no one hears from them again. It's also happened to a small handful of men, but, that information wouldn't be of much use. Standing on street corners and watching people pass by, they listened in for any gossip on who might possibly be the next target. Hours they searched and listened, but no such luck. Everyone was being normal, talking about their days, what they had for dinner, nothing special.

The sound of Luna's growling stomach caught the two by surprised and the female smiled sheepishly up at her companion.

"Let's go eat." He led the way to a bakery they walked by earlier. The two could already smell it from down the street and were starving to stuff their face with something. As they continued down the road, shop owners hollered over the crowd, emphasizing their products and special sales to draw in customers, but the two exorcists paid no mind. It wasn't till a man jumped in front of Luna that the two stop.

"Hello! Hello! Lovely to meet you my lady. Don't you look absolutely stunning!" he gasped. He was a short skeletal man with a handlebar moustache and pale skin, sharp beady eyes with a top hat to pull it all off together. By the way he was dressed, he must've made some good money, but not wealthy.

Luna stuttered, not sure what to do with the sudden surprise of compliments.

"Your skin is so flawless! And that hair! It looks like silk. You are indeed a lucky man good sir." He winked over at the red head's direction, making the male exorcist blush in fluster. "Yes yes, and such smooth skin too. Oh! Your hands! Such delicate features." He sneered, pulling Luna's hand closer to his face. She could have punched him, but the trouble she'd get into wouldn't be worth it.

"Yes, yes, just as I suspected. You have the graceful hands of a lover! Sir, you sure do have a keeper!" he grinned over at Lavi just as he was about to interrupt the tiny man, making him turn beat red and embarrassment. "Yes yes, such wonderful features need something to compliment them." He reached toward his side and skimmed a finger over a case of rings bestowed out for all to see. Finding one band etched with carved in curves filled with tiny clear crystals and topped with a greenish-blue heart shaped stone caught his eye and with the flick of her finger, it came out from his casing. Slipping the tiny silver onto Luna's hand, it felt like the steel gently hugged against her, fitting perfectly like a glove.

"PERFECT! JUST PERFECT!" the jeweler squealed. He tugged Luna's hand towards Lavi who was just about to step forward and stop him, when the tiny man accidentally beat the back of Luna's fingers against his lips. The two froze, stunned and ruffled. Luna's jaw gaped while Lavi's lips seemed glued to her hand, the touch of the ring soft against his skin. Shaking his head, he pulled away and held his hands up apologetically. He didn't want to get punched for something he didn't do!

"Oh you two are so adorable! Hun, that ring suits you so much, keep it. It's an old one and doesn't fit anyone anyways. All yours, free of charge! Now if you excuse me~" the man grinned before rushing over to a customer eyeing his earrings. The exorcists stood frozen, Luna's hand still in the air.

After an awkward silence, the two coughed and collected themselves.

"Let's eat." Luna said quickly, rushing past him. The walk down the block seemed to last forever under the silence.

As they opened the door to the pastry shop, a flood of scents rushed up their nostrils. The walls were lined with soft pastel colors of pink, cream and chocolate browns. One the side and back walls were glass cases holding lines upon lines of different assortments of sweats, all fluffed and bakes to perfection, some topped with chocolate, icing or cream. The exorcist's eyes lit up with hunger like the other children rushing around the room, picking out their own little batch to eat. Luna's eyes locked in on the section of light colored pastries that she guessed where vanilla flavored. Lavi just chuckled, her innocence now showing fully. It was rare to ever see a reaction out of her, and he had to admit, it was a bit cute.

Luna's palms laid on the surface of the glass, wanting to break it and take everything shown before her, but her mind was too busy conversing to the stomach on which baked good would be devoured first. Without noticing, one of the cooks came around the corner and stood behind the case, smiling warmly down to her.

"Welcome. Would you like anything?" he asked. Luna had to pick wisely.

"Can I take two vanilla iced doughnuts? Oh, and the cookies and cream chunk bar?" she smiled sheepishly up at the man who chuckled as he opened the sliding door to the other side, using a thin paper sheet to grab her orders. "Oh! That one looks good too! Can I have two of those?" she blushed. The round puffy sweat looked like a really thick doughnut, but without the whole. It was covered with powdered sugar but the description also mentioned it to be filled with vanilla crème. The cook nodded and grabbed for what she asked.

"Will that be all?"

Luna nodded to his question before glancing over at Lavi. "You want anything?"

"I thought you were ordering for the both of us." He smirked, trying to be funny with the childish exorcist. Luna puffed in his direction, but the red head waved his hand, shrugging it off. "I'm messing with you. I'll just have a one of the last thing she ordered, chocolate iced doughnut and a cup of coffee. Half and half please." The cook nodded again to his order and left to pick up what he request.

"I'll have a coffee too. Same." Luna hollered before deliciously eyeing the other pastries.

Lavi's smile grew more before walking up behind her. "Enjoying what you see?" his voice was surprisingly whispy and soft, causing Luna to stand and turn, only to find herself uncomfortably close to the exorcist. Her cheeks turned a bit pink before her lips twitched into a smile, lids falling faintly. Lavi's eye fell on her, a bit set off by her sudden change of mood. Usually if these situations accidently happen, she would sock him in the teeth for being a flirt. The exact opposite happened, and her eyes were softer than ever, a gaze Lavi haven't seen or wasn't used to.

After a brief moment however, Luna's eyes widened, her blush turning deeper before spinning on her heel and rushing over for the front counter. "Is that coffee ready?" she gasped, striding away from her comrade. Lavi just blinked and watched her leave. Once again, another big switch in the mood. Feeling a bit uneasy, he went towards the other side of the store to look at more pastries when a kid by the doorway caught his attention. The child was like any other child, but the way he stared at him was unsettling. It was as if he saw him do something wrong, but didn't move an inch. Lavi was frozen in place, confused by the whole awkward feeling looming over the bakery. It wasn't till Luna hollered him over to the cash register that he snapped out of it. The child left, and Lavi rushed off to the opposite direction.

"That will be 48.94." the cook smiled. The bleach haired exorcist reached into her uniform jacket pocket to fetch her wallet when Lavi grabbed her arm.

"I got this." He said, handing a few bills to the other. Luna smiled as she was handed her bag of food and Lavi his. Luna nodded and skipped off outside to one of the nearby tables. It was a nice day, so minus well use the most of it. Lavi followed out soon later and sat across from her, but the table was so small, they were practically next to each other. Luna decided to give the strange pastry a try first, biting into it to have a small squeeze of vanilla crème. The taste was delicious as she savored every bite of the chunk in her mouth. Lavi just watched with the cup of coffee held to his lips, entertained by her enjoyment.

"Do you like it?" he smiled before taking his first sip, the heat stinging hot as it passed his lips. Luna nodded slowly as she took another bite. She wasn't going to waste her time talking. The red head chuckled, amused by the sight. The two ate in peace, feeling the town breeze blow by and people chatter as they passed. Lavi listened in most of the time to see if anyone was speaking of any specific person, hoping to locate the innocence. Luna, on the other hand, was stuffing her face. Taking a bite straight for the middle, crème was pushed out, a bit sticking to the corner of her lips. The tickle made a silent 'oh' escape her lips, catching Lavi's attention to catch a glimpse of the sight. Luna blinked as the white bit of crème stayed there. The red head blushed a bit, frozen as there were plenty of things he should do, but was afraid that he would get a warm greeting from her fists if he did so. The bleached haired exorcist just smiled before using a finger to swipe it off and lick it away. Lavi's cheeks burned into a more vivid red before he took another gulp of his coffee that was still too hot. Luna just laughed at him and continued to eat her treat.

Lavi was stunned. This side of Luna wasn't normal. Something about this town wasn't normal at all. 'Luna would be caught dead making a seducing action like that. Something's not right.' He grumbled in his head, but the image of her licking the crème off the tip of her fingers wasn't helping him think at all.

"When you want to greet someone," Lavi spoke in a French tongue, teaching the newest edition to the Black Order some English. He was circling the table she sat at as she stared at a book in front of her. Dressing in normal casual attire, her Uniform was still being made, so lessons were to fill the gap of space between completions. "you must say 'Hello, my name is..'" the red head spoke slowly, hoping she would catch on.

"Hello, my name is… Luna." The student mumbled softly. English was a tad difficult for her. Her strong accent wasn't helping either when trying to talk. Lavi found it amusing though, and having someone to speak to in French was a good refresher as he hasn't spoken it in years.

Nodding at her in approval, he leaned over her to turn the page, introducing a few new vocabulary words. Just as he was about to explain, a squeaky grumble interrupted him. Turning an eye down to his student, he caught sight of her just in time to catch her furiously blushing, arms crossed over her stomach. "We can finish this later. Can't work on an empty stomach, can we?" he smiled softly. Luna didn't say anything. She just scooted out of her chair, head hanging low as her face was still flushed with embarrassment. Leading the way to the cafeteria, it was oddly filled with people at such an early hour. He led her towards Jerry's window where he waited most gleefully to be given a new order.

"Well hey Lavi, how are you doing sugarpie?" the dark skinned male sang happily. Though most men in the castle felt uncomfortable around the cook, Lavi found his presence most entertaining.

"I'm doing awesome. This is Luna, our newest exorcist." He nodded, his English voice surprising his follower as she knew not what he said. Her name being mentioned always made her nervous though, and the purple haired man standing behind the counter was a bit strange looking. Jerry only took a glance at her before smiling sheepishly, finding the girl's shy act utterly adorable. "She only knows French, so I'm her translator till she learns English herself." He explained before Jerry could babble at her. "This is Jerry, he's the cook here. Tell me what you want and I'll order it for you." He nudged Luna with his shoulder, his voice low and soft, making her feel that everything was okay.

To Lavi's surprise, she was quick to pick. "5 12 ounce steaks cooked char-grilled and medium rare, a side of celery with cream cheese- oh, does he have Vanilla pudding?" she asked, eyes filled with joy and hope.

Lavi chuckled awkwardly before turning to the cook. "Do you have vanilla pudding?"

Jerry was most surprised by the request. "Yeah, we got some in the fridge."

Lavi translated the news over when Luna suddenly leaned towards Jerry, almost hanging over the counter. "20 please." She said kindly. She said it in English too, which surprised Lavi, but her accent still drunk out her words, which made it a bit charming. Mentioning the other orders she asked for, Jerry left to go make it while the two waited. For the entire time, Luna drabbled on about how delicious anything Vanilla was to her tastes and all the things she tried that tasted like it. Lavi would even translate some words she said into English, a little side lesson while they waited. Her order was big, but nothing Jerry couldn't handle. As Lavi watched her eat, he told her stories of his missions and some of the mischief he caused around the Order. The bleach haired exorcist nodded as she chewed, occasionally laughing at his tales.

It was while she was eating though that she realized this was her first real meal with someone that she hadn't had in years. It was nice, and most enjoyable. After they finished and headed back towards the library, she bashfully asked if Lavi could have lunch with her again the next day. He gladly agreed to it.

**TCz: okay, I think that was enough for one chapter… hoho, Luna's acting weird. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WRONG. ((maybe her seductive side is coming out-*shot*))**


	4. Chapter 4

Lavi was annoyed, tired and most of all, confused beyond far for the day. Sitting on a bench, resting, he stared into the nothing as he had been listening and seeing enough people. He had hoped that the town-folk would be talking about one particular person or at least a specific group of people, but still, no luck. Walking around the block over and over, nothing could have been done to help. What's even worse than no luck with his job, his partner in arms was acting stranger than ever. After the whole bakery scene and the crème, Luna had been acting a tad lewd than… …well, ever. Locking arms with him, standing closer than ever, giggling, calling him 'CUTE'! It was all really troublesome and confusing. How or why, but… she was actually acting like a _girl_. Not just any girl, but a _flirting, feminine, soft _girl. Countless times had he been baffled, shocked and jumbled.

He couldn't deny the fact he liked it though. After the moment of shock passes, it's quite nice having someone pretty at your side the whole day that isn't threatening to beat the daylights out of you is quite nice. Seeing this side of Luna was very refreshing. Knowing her for a year now, their friendship was a very close one. Even if she acted like a boy most of the time and was always dull to hang with, her company was always enjoyable once she found something to laugh about. Actually, it was only Lavi who could really make her break a giggle. His trouble-making playful attitude was always warming to her. Lavi never knew that though, as her tough male-like exterior kept a lot of her emotions very well hidden.

Luna didn't act like a boy on purpose. It was just a natural way for her. Growing up alone after her grandfather died, she didn't have anyone to watch out for her or to protect her from bullying. Realizing this, she took on the male role herself and stood up to the boys that picked on her when she went through town. Her act didn't help her last long though, and had to make her bite better than her bark. Beginning work at the men's pub at the age 16, she's seen many bar fights to know a thing or two. The owner even helped teach her when he caught her punching one of the sacks of trash out back. The bar owner was kind to Luna, but she never liked how he smelled like heavy alcohol all the time. None-the-less, she was forcefully removed from her job when Kanda snatched her from the town. It was coincidental that she was just wondering that day if she maybe had a life outside the town; a purpose of her own to fulfill. Heavy in thought, she was attacked by those Akuma boys. Their lot had already been giving her a pain for a month already, but she was able to handle them.

"Luna, why don't we head back to the hotel? It's getting late." Lavi frowned, glancing up at the sky. The orange was beginning to lose its bright hue, and blue night sky was quickly seeping in. Luna rose her head off his shoulder to look up at him and smile warmly.

"Tired? I guess so. Let's go." She nodded, rising from the bench. Lavi followed, groaning in pain as he got up. Luna coiled her arms around his, helping him stand. "They still hurt?" she asked softly, a small frown curling down on her lips. Lavi replied with a fake smile and a slight nod of his head. "I'll give you a massage when we get to the hotel." Luna winked, pulling him down the road. Lavi's cheeks turned a tad pink at the thought. He had already blushed furiously enough for the day; these random flirty instances were actually beginning to feel normal for him. As he trudged behind, they passed up the bakery they were at earlier. The lights inside were blazing warm with working ovens and people buzzing about.

"They must have a lot of good business." Lavi muttered, but Luna had already stopped and stared into the shop for a moment.

"Stay here." Luna whispered, leaning him against wall before rushing into the pastry shop. Lavi's one eye scanned the crowd trying to find her, but the blur of colors and movement was a bit too much. After waiting and waiting for what was probably half an hour, he got up to go in and find her. Opening the door, the noise inside the store was suddenly brighter, everyone clapping in sync as even louder music boomed over their laughter. Getting on his toes and peeking over people, he wove his way through the crowd to find himself at the edge of an empty circle. Inside, three groups of two twirled and danced in step to the beat, partners being exchanged soothingly. What surprised Lavi most was that it was Luna dancing amongst them. The dancers were actually pretty young, a few less than her age and some in their early 20s by the looks. None-the-less, it seemed like fun, and with the wide grin on Luna's face, it was obvious she found it very entertaining. Watching in amazement, she followed their dance steps rather well, her feet easily flying over the floor. It actually brought a smile to Lavi's face as he clapped along with the crowd. Sooner than expected however, the music stopped and the dancers gave a bow. As Luna's head rose, she caught sight of Lavi and her skin became furiously flushed.

"You were watching?" she chuckled shyly, skipping up to him.

"You were taking a while and I got worried." He leaned in so as not to yell over everyone. Just as Luna was about to say something, the baker across the room yelled her name, holding a large bag up in the air. Rushing over, she handed him some bills before taking the bag.

"I got us dinner." She smiled, snatching his hand with her free one before pulling him out of the shop.

The whole walk to the hotel, Lavi and Luna ate small pastries, the red head going over some old stories he told her long ago for some laughs. Luna enjoyed the time, laughing and chewing.

"Really though Luna, who knew you were such a good dancer. I was a bit surprised." Lavi nodded before taking a bite out of his croissant.

"Yeah! I'm surprised myself." Luna chuckled before slowing her walk a bit.

_'How was I doing that?'_ she thought to herself. A surge of pain rushed to her head, making her grab it unconsciously and groan.

Lavi heard this and turned around to look at her. "You okay?" he asked, wrapping and arm around her shoulder. The bleach haired exorcist nodded before smiling comfortingly at him. The two continued back to the hotel, the night rather quiet as they distanced themselves from the main road. Entering the inn, the woman at the front desk gives them a warm welcoming.

"Lovely dancing you did at the bakery. Everyone love you~" the woman grinned as the two continued upstairs.

"Wow, word gets fast around here." Lavi said softly.

"It's a small town." Luna shrugged, opening the door for them. Once inside, she locked the two of them in and kicked off her boots, making a B-line for her bed. Collapsing in it with a groan, she hugs the pillow to her face and embraces the softness against her. Lavi sat on his bed next to her, sighing in relief as his legs gave out. The two sat quietly in the room, collecting the soothing feeling of stress leave their legs before Luna turned her head to smile at the red head.

"So we keep looking for the innocence tomorrow?" she smiled sheepishly, hoping their aches would not be worsened. Lavi sighed again, returning a crooked smile and a shrug. Luna closed her eyes for a moment before rising up. "I can't complain though, I had fun today." Her lips curled into her cheeks as her eye landed on her exorcist partner. He arched a brow but said nothing. "It's nice to have a day outside the order." She continued. "Especially with you. You're a lot of fun to be with." Her voice began to soften gradually, and Lavi's attention was completely turned. He no longer worried about the innocence. Luna wanted to continue, but she forgot the words. Her gaze on the red head fixated her as a swell of emotion balled up in her chest. He returned the stare, eye locked on her and the room went quiet.

Not saying a word, Luna rose from her bed and sat next to Lavi, her head resting on his shoulder as her arm wrapped around his, embracing his body warmth. He watched carefully as she curled up next to him.

"I don't want to go back to the order. General Klaud and Komui will just lock me up in there again and make me train all the time. I like being out in the world, seeing places like this and having fun." She muttered, her eyes slowly beginning to feel heavy. "You're so lucky Lavi… you get to know all these languages and see these places… I'm jealous." She whimpered faintly, hiding her face. Her statement actually surprised Lavi really, he never knew that she would possibly be jealous of such a thing. Collecting herself, she lifted her chin to look up at the exorcist, turquoise orb locked on ivy green. The two gazed before the white haired exorcist laid her hand on his cheek, cold touch stinging at his skin before she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

A surge suddenly passed through Lavi as he suddenly felt hungry for her, hands unconsciously grasping and pulling her against him, his lips now snatching hers.

'_This isn't right. This shouldn't be happening, I'm not doing this.'_ Lavi panicked in his head as Luna's arms wrapped around his neck. His tongue rolled over her bottom lip, her mouth opening in invitation, allowing him to explore inside her. Her cold touch stung and made adrenaline pump through his veins, blush rushing to replenish the warmth in every inch she touched of him. Her lips were surprisingly soft despite the lack of fullness they held. Their kiss melted perfectly, warm and cool breath clashing to cause static in the nerves across the mouths, their lust build and building. His body weight overpowering hers, her back laid against the bed, his weight pinning her here.

'_No.. I have to stop._' Lavi hissed in his thoughts, his hands running down her arms till they found her wrists, pulling them to the side of her head and pinning them there. Her legs curled and stretch, her body squirming and moving with the immoral energy flowing through her veins. His fingers wove over her palms and entangle with hers, gripping tightly. While his body continued to act on its own whim, he was lucky enough to have some control over his hands, wriggling them till he found what he had been searching for. The ring on her finger still sat where it was placed, it's surface smooth to the touch.

Luna groaned in the kiss, their lips pulling away to catch breath. Her grunting and little moans made a shiver run down Lavi's spine, his might put into controlling his body before he did anything rash while his fingers rushed to pull the jewelry off her hand.

"MMph -Lavi" Luna gasped before nipping at his bottom lip. Closing his eyes tight, controlling his body was harder than he thought. The innocence wasn't controlling him fully, but instead, it was increasing his inner till anything could satisfy his hunger. The one wearing the innocence would act out what the receiver was lusting for, thus making them a doll to their bidding. That is why people would become so famous in town so quickly. Men were talking about how _attractive_ said person was while women spoke of how _jealous_ they were that said person was wooing everyone away.

Growling, Lavi's lips dragged across her cheek and down her jaw-line, slipping to her neck where they suckled and nipped and the soft surface. His fingers pulled at the ring, it's tight fit a bit hard to work before finally, at a sudden moment, it came off with a simple 'pop'. Luna froze, her breath halting for a bit before her arms crashed, her hold on him loosened. The building lust inside Lavi disappeared, but his body felt frail and weak. Rising as high as he could hold himself, he saw Luna fast asleep beneath him. The innocence must've drained all her energy and used her body as a doll.

"So the innocence does its job till the two people collapse. But that doesn't explain how they disappear…" he grumbled to himself before rising up. Turning his head to the window, and ominous shadow floated above the town. It wasn't till he stared at it more that he figured out what it was. "So that's what happened to the missing people." He smirked before reaching over for his hammer.

* * *

Luna dreamt softly in the bed, her sleep heavy and dreams vivid. She was sitting in her home again, old creaky floors and walls with very little furniture, dust floating in the air in the light that a window could offer. Sitting in an old rocking chair, she was casually dressed in her old home attire, folded clothes placed in her lap. Lifting her head, confused as to suddenly wonder why she was here.

"Something bothering you Luna?" asked an aged wheezy soft voice. Turning her head, seated in the wooden chair next to her, was her grandpa, a bowl of soup in lap and hands. His skin was wrinkled and dry, eyes hazy and dried. They still held that special glint though, warm and silver. His hair was thin, balding at old age and white as hers. His tiny slouched form was the warmest, comforting and relaxing thing she could ever see.

"No, nothing grandpa. Just a bit tired." She smiled, shaking her head ever so slightly before grabbing the next clothe to fold from the table next to her.

A gentle chuckle came from his chest. "You have the same look your mother had when she thought about your father. Beautiful as ever too." Her grandfather continued. Luna could feel her cheeks flush and she pressed the folded laundry into her lap again.

"Grandfather-!" she gasped with a grin, turning to him again. "You never talk about my parents. And what are you implying anyways?!" she laughed, tilting her head confused. On occasion, like any elder, he would drabble on about something random and very much so off topic. This was probably those moments, but a gut feeling was just itching at her.

"Luna, you can't hide Love. You can hide every expression well, but Love is the one thing you fail to conceal." The old man cackled, head shaking and nodded because of his old bones. Luna furrowed her brow, lowering her head to hide the fluster in his cheeks. It's just old people talk she told herself, but it was hitting her right on the dot. "So tell me about this boy. You seem to hang out with him a lot."

Luna arched a brow at this. "Grandpa, who are you-"

Lavi was leaning against the entrance-way from the hall to the living room, a soft smile on his face. His eye was locked on her, it's glass texture only reflecting, but his sneer holding all the sentiment she needed to see. Her own smile faded as her jaw fell, a silent 'oh' forming on her lips. Her grandfather cackled a bit louder as her slowly turned over his shoulder to see what she possibly could have saw, but Lavi began to walk into the room to save him the trouble. Standing beside his chair now, he placed a hand on his shoulder and bowed his head.

"Lovely to meet you sir." He whispered. The cackling turned into boastful laughter as his eyes lit up at the boy, reaching a hand up to touch his placed on him.

"Oh, so you're the special boy Luna tells me about. My, you are a handsome one." He hummed. "Luna, how could you say such bad things about this boy? He's so nice."

"You say bad things about me?" the red head arched a brow. Luna furrowed hers, pulling the folded laundry from her lap and onto the table.

"Lavi, what are you doing here?" she asked in a low tone. This was her dream with her grandpa. No one else ever came into her dreams.

Lavi's smile faded slightly, but his lips still curled upward into a smirk. "Isn't it obvious?"

Luna stepped forward to lead him out the door when her grandpa held a hand up to her, ordering her to halt.

"Now Luna, we both know why you brought Lavi here." He muttered, his happy glow fading quickly as a frown drooped on his face. Taking one last look at the red head, he gave the elder a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "I see now that you're in capable hands." His soft eyes turned lonely as he gazed up at the girl he raised. "I loved you Luna, and I always wanted the best for you. I didn't tell you this before but-"

The elders mouth continued moving, but no sound came out. Luna squinted, trying hard to hear, but she was answered with nothing. Looking at Lavi, his eye seemed to grow sad as if he was hearing a sad story from him. Why was Lavi able to hear but her? Luna was quickly growing agitated, her fists balling tight and her skin tingled with crispy cold touches. Pain flooded inside her, making her collapse. She heard a distant cry of her name before a something warm wrapped around her waist.

* * *

Waking up abruptly to a cold sweat, the bleached hair exorcist was panting deeply, sweat dripping down her face, chest and back. Was she sick? Pulling the blankets off her, she found herself dressed in different attire. She had on her normal clothes underneath, but over it, a Black Order uniform jacket that didn't belong to her. Feeling something shift under her, she peeked over her shoulder to find in the bed with her was another body. Not just anybody, but Lavi curled up nice and warm next to her. It was his arms wrapped around her waist that she felt around her. The spot on the pillow next to him was drenched with sweat. She had to admit, his warmth was comforting, but shock was too busy drowning out her senses.

The bookman's eye opened to see his sleeping beauty now awake.

"Good morning." He grumbled, arms wrapping tighter around her.

"GET OUT OF MY BED!" she screamed, causing the boy to open his eye in surprise and jolt up next to her.

"Shhh-Stop yelling!" he hissed, placing a finger over her lips. She had none of it though and jumped out of the bed, throwing his jacket off. When she stood up, she found herself not in her usual pants, but shorts instead. Throwing her arms up in shock, she glared at the boy.

"You changed my shorts?!" she squeaked furiously.

"You were cold and sweating all night! I thought it would help!" he yelled back.

"I'M ALWAYS COLD LAVI. IT'S THE PRICE FOR HAVING MY INNOCENCE." She threw her hands wildly in the air, flashing her arms that were purely pale and glistening with sweat, making her skin seem to shimmer like ice. "WHY THE HELL WERE YOU SLEEPING WITH ME?!"

"So you don't remember?" he arched a brow.

"THE HELL I-" she paused. She didn't actually remember much of anything from the previous day. Looking around the room confused, she looked at Lavi again to see that he was covered in bruises, a few bandages covering some cuts.

"Sit down before you faint and I'll tell you everything." He sighed, scooting over to allow her to sit next to him. She sat down on her own bed though. Being too close to him, she might lose it and punch him.

Lavi explained what had happen, about the ring being the innocence, how it had knocked her out and used her body as a doll to do it's bidding, the flirting and lewd actions she did, what almost happened last night and how he got the innocence off of her before anything could happen, that she passed out after it was removed and the Akuma attacked. Luna sat in complete disbelief of what he was saying, but since she had no proof of it, she was going to have to agree with him. The thought of having done all that embarrassed her, her cheeks turning a tad pink the more he explained, but it wasn't really her, so why would she be embarrassed?

"The train back to the order leaves today. You have to take the innocence back there while I take another train with bookman to another town. Komui said that he wanted some information." He shrugged, getting out of bed and folding the covers. Luna didn't budge as she tried to push the mental images out of her head. Lavi saw her seeming so uncomfortable and smiled softly.

"You know, I did have fun yesterday though." He muttered. The female glared up at him, thinking he had an innuendo behind it, but he raised his hands defensively. "Really Luna, you were actually acting like a girl for once. It was nice." His smile stretched across his face as she tensed down again. What was the big deal? Acting like a girl wasn't her, but as Lavi said that, she wondered if maybe everyone would prefer her different…

"I gotta say though, your kissing is a little sloppy. If you need practice, I'd be happy to teach you. Loving is like first language to me." Lavi winked with a devious grin. Luna growled at him before socking him in the shoulder. "OWW!" the red head cried out in pain.


	5. Chapter 5

The train rolled off with a long on going screech, hot steam of the engine blowing in the thin cold wind. Inside the cart, sitting in a room to herself, Luna gazed out the window, her eyes drooped as she was lost in a little train of thought. A flicker of red caught her attention, making her turn her eye to see Lavi smiling warmly at her, waving goodbye as the night train crawled forward. Luna didn't bother waving back to him, and instead turned away as he disappeared behind her. She had been furious with the older teen for last night's mishap. Sure neither could control it, but she was just so embarrassed that it pissed her off and the only one she could blow up on was him. The whole day compressed of her beating on him, yelling at him, and plain ignoring the red head. The innocence, which was located in the stone of the ring, was placed in a box where it could not affect anyone. Luna could barely look at it as it reminded her of too much. As the trees rushed past her windows, a small clearing came up, showing the warm glow of the sunset before the car had to dwell into narrow curves of mountains and cliffs.

Her stomach growled softly, her hand unconsciously reaching up to rub it as she scanned around for the big bag of baked goods Lavi bought for her before the departure. Even though none of it was his fault, he felt a bit bad for her and decided to treat her one last time before she had to go. As she dove into the bag and pulled out a vanilla crème filled doughnut, she realized that now she was eating alone. A small frown came up on her face as for a brief moment, she wished Lavi was there to dine with her, but she furiously shook the thought from her head and bit into the treat. Why would she care if Lavi wasn't going to eat with her? Not like it mattered.

Luna was awoken with a somewhat loud knock at the door. Jumping in her bed, it took her a few seconds before her memories recalled that she was now living in the black order. It had been a week since she was removed from her home. Her room had a few boxes lying about, filled with clothes and some personal things from her first home. Her muscles laxed before another knock came and she rushed over to answer it. There before her was Lavi and a girl she had never seen before. Her name was Lenalee from what she would learn soon.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Lavi grinned in a french tongue. Luna glared at him, uncomfortable with the nickname and took a glance at the girl who seemed to be smiling very brightly at her. What was she so happy about? "We came to tell you that your uniform is done. Get ready and we'll have some breakfast before picking it up." The red head explained, holding back his chuckle. This worried Luna a bit more before she closed the door and changed into a sweatshirt and capris. As the three ate breakfast, Lavi asked that Luna try and speak English with Lenalee.

"Hello, I'm Luna. What is your name?" she asked shyly, cheeks flushed, nervous that it would sound weird or come out wrong. The Chinese girl beamed and tilted her head cutely.

"I'm Lenalee. It's nice to meet you." Her voice was very delicate to ear, almost lovingly and sister-like. Lavi proceeded to explain some more things to Luna, such as the word breakfast and the meaning, what foods were, how to ask for it. It was a bit too much, but with practice, she would eventually get it. As they finished up their food, a finder came up to tell them that Komui had called for them to his office. When the trio arrived, Luna was greeted by all the scientists, introducing herself in English. After names were exchanged, the one short one, Johnny, approached her with a box.

"It's your new uniform. You can put it on in the back." Lavi translated before the French girl would get confused on what was going on. Once the door was closed, Luna opened the lid to find neatly folded fabrics laying, waiting for her. For some reason, she was excited. It was probably because this was the first gift she's gotten in a long time, or maybe it was because it was the first new pair of clothes she's received in the longest time too, but still, she was happy. The first one was a jacket. Pretty simple, a zip-up that was all black with some white designs on it, a silver crest on the right chest piece that resembled the black order. When she put it on, she realized the collar piece was tall and reached her chin, hiding her thin neck. It was warm and comforting despite the awkward look. When she glanced at herself in the mirror, she realized how baggy it was and that she still had no chest what-so-ever. That was good, as she wasn't the type to flash her stuff. Not that she had any anyways.

Leaning down to pick up the next piece of clothing, she found it rather… short. Unfolding it, she realized it was a shirt and glared at the clothing. Peeking from behind the door, she held the skirt up for all to see.

"I am not wearing this." She said plainly and loudly for all to hear before dropping it on the floor. She heard Lavi boast in laughter before taking one last look at herself. The beige capris she had on looked quite nice with the uniform actually, so she decided to keep it that way. Coming out from the changing room, the group awaited for the new member of the team to show off her uniform. It looked good, but she still looked too much like a boy.

"Johnny, you sure you got the numbers right? She looks nothing like a girl still." Reever arched a brow at the young scientists.

"It's hard to make something to look like a girl when she lacks the features sir." He blushed, feeling a bit bad for saying that. Luna didn't understand a word, but she wasn't worried about anything. She really liked how she look.

"Why don't you try on the skirt Luna?" Lavi grinned devilishly.

"You wish." The French woman spat at him. "I have my moral values and I would be caught dead in that underwear." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Well… you look like a boy." The red head frowned.

"Good. I have no desire for finding a man anyways." She smirked.

Lavi smiled deviously. "Why? You afraid of cooties?" he snickered, soon followed by a painful howl as Luna punched him in the arm.

Lenalee stood silently, studying her outfit before smiling "I think she looks nice like that. It's her. A skirt would be just too weird." She shrugged. Luna knew by the arguing groans in the room that she agreed with her and grinned. At least she had the only girl here on her side.

"It doesn't matter if she wears the skirt or not, as long as she wears the jacket with the emblem, it's all okay." Komui nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "Besides, I think she's cute, even for a boy~" he sang. Everyone chuckled along with, Lavi translating over to the French girl who huffed in embarrassment.

It was how Luna's life entangled into the Order. Lenalee would assist her in her training, the Chinese girl's agility knowledge being passed down to her. Even though they spoke two different languages, Luna always felt like Lenalee was her one escape in this place. She never pushed for any personal issues about her or asked too many questions. Actually, Lenalee preferred that it would be Luna who would come and talk to her. It was easy to tell that her limited temper would turn bad on her if she pestered for anything. Luna was a bit uneasy with her feminine ways, but that didn't stop her from hanging out. She just avoided the girly moments where Lenalee picked out outfits and dresses and makeup, but everything else was quite relaxing and enjoyable.

Komui always took care of the examination side of her life, always checking before and after progresses of her production. She only had a 72% synchronization rate, but being a parasitic type, it should have been much better than that. Being the summer time, Luna had no other choice but to train anyways. She had two known abilities so far, one she mastered and the other still in some progress. The one she mastered was a simple thick layer of ice that covered her fists and portion of her forearm. When on impact, the ice actually speared out into spikes, penetrating the target. The second technique, which was a bit difficult to hold and manage at the time, was her ice claws. Her entire arm, up to her shoulders, would dissolve into ice, becoming large destructive claws that could rip apart a target. She could only use the water that was in her body though, or near-by. She would have to stand in it though to keep the flow going well.

When not in the library with the Bookmens, she was in the office with the other scientists, delivering paper back and forth. She found the boy Johnny to be a bit awkward as he was always staring at her weird, but Reever was the one she felt that she could warm up to, except on the occasion where he would call her a tom-boy, a nick-name given to her by Kanda soon after her arrival.

Luna and Kanda were on very… …unfair terms with each other. The exorcist didn't have a care in the world for her while she always had a spiteful attitude towards him, glares exchanged when they were both ticked off in any form or fashion, but the two never really brawled or fought before, so the danger level between them wasn't an all-time high. Actually, their bickering in their own native tongues was actually quite amusing to watch, especially for Lavi since he knew both French and Japanese.

And finally, Lavi, who continued to tutor the French girl in the English tongue. She caught on rather well to his surprise. After their first month or so of studying, she was already able to understand a good basic vocabulary and exchange words back and forth a few times. Still though, she was a work in progress. Simple greetings, statuses, asking the time, for food and what not was just the beginning of her lessons.

Life was actually a bit enjoyable for Luna. It was a few days after she received her uniform that she met her new General, Klaud. She was gentle with her, almost motherly. Such affection hadn't warmed the French girl's heart in so long that she actually blushes on occasion around her. Her innocence holding monkey, Lau, was a very playful creature. When Lau ever saw the French girl, the imp always made sure to pounce on her face with a loud screech, hugging against her tightly. You could guess that the monkey had warmed up to her. Klaud took Luna under her wing as an apprentice, teaching her techniques on how to handle Akuma in different ways without damaging the surrounding area of possible close-by civilians. It was a tough training session, but Luna would have to get the hang of it.

Klaud's team, consisting of Tina Spark, Gwen Flail and Sol Galen, were a very colorful bunch. Tina, the loud hyper brunette, had two tiny daggers, that when connecting to a target would make an electrical current that could destroy Akuma. Gwen, a girl almost as pale as Luna, had short bobbed black hair with purple highlights. Very quiet but friendly. Her innocence was a violin that could play ear piercing noises, destroying an akuma. And Sol, the boastful brotherly body builder, had a war mallet as his innocence. Luna would always note herself to stay away from the receiving end of that hammer. They were kind, but always teased her for being the noob of their collection, and that she was not ready to be a real exorcist yet and to keep training hard. It frustrated Luna a bit, but she knew she would be at their ranks soon enough.

As comfortable as Luna was getting into her new home, she desperately missed her old creaky empty home. The thin dusty air and cold crisp was what she was really comfortable with. The order smelt too much of mold and damp mold covered stones. As she would dream at night, it was always one that consisted of her grandfather, as usual. Slowly though, as days passed, the dreams became less of re-runs of past conversations they had together, and instead compressed of how her day was, what she learned, what she saw. The dreams even began to translate to English at one moment. A bit strange to her, but as long as she saw her grandfather's face, she had nothing to worry about. His subtle presence always made her feel better by the end of the day.

One late morning, awaking to her nearly half a year of living in the large castle, a surprising knock came to the door. Luna had just dressed herself when she stared at the wooden entrance, a bit startled. Living her so long, Lavi and Lenalee stopped greeting her good morning and leading her around.

"Coming." She called out in english, putting away her folded night clothing before rushing over to open the door. There before her, beaming like an idiot, was the one and only idiot who could wear such a grin.

"Good morning sleeping beauty" the red head winked. Luna stared dryly at him, rolling an eye before leaning against the doorframe.

"What do you want, Lavi?" she grumbled. For a brief moment, she was hoping it was Klaud, coming to steal her away on some exciting mission. She had been begging her master to take her forever now, but Klaud refused, afraid that she would hurt herself as she wasn't ready for a real Akuma, despite the fact that Luna was already defending herself from them before the Order even found her.

"Just stopping by to kidnap you on an exciting day's adventure of vacation and fun." Juniour snirked, feeling somewhat proud for some odd reason. The French teen arched a brow, confused and a tiny bit interested on what mischief he could be up to. Was Lavi coming to steal her away on some secret mission far away from the stuffy castle? "Lenalee and your General are all off on a mission for the next few days and old pan panda went to town to pick up some Chinese medicine stuff. I thought maybe today we could take a little break from the lessons and kick back and have fun."

"What about Komui? Does he not want to run some tests on me? He always does." Luna quickly responded. There was no way that all of a sudden _everyone_ would be gone to give her a free day off.

"Komui and the others have some work to catch up on. Reever says that Komui is using you too much to get away from his job." The red head more quickly than she did. Luna stared at the excited Lavi, thinking things over. It was her day off apparently, but she didn't have anything fun to do in her spare time. She was always busy with her own thing. She could try and find a way to entertain herself, but she never really did anything _fun_ anyways when she was living alone. Seeing no hope, she had to agree to allow Lavi to entertain her for the day.

The red head cried out happily as he marched off, his companion following close behind. "Let's go eat first, I'm starving." He sighed, rubbing his silently growling stomach. Luna was a bit hungry herself actually, but she was a parasitic type, so she was always hungry.

Quickly finding their way to Jerry's kitchen, the dark male was most happy to see his little beaming pair of sun-shines at his window.

"Well hey there you two~ Good mornin'! What can I get you today?" the cook sang colorfully.

"I'll have a normal waffle and bacon breakfast." Lavi grinned, hunched over the counter with his chin resting in his palms.

Jerry nodded to his order. "And what about you sugar cake? What will it be today?" he asked, turning an eye towards Luna.

The female gazed off innocently into space before looking at the cook again. "I'll have a dozen pancakes, a few waffles, lots of bacon, some scrambled eggs with salt, and oh! Your fruit tart pie please!" a grin slowly grew across the exorcist's face as she listed off each order one by win. The cook squealed happily before boasting about how fun it was to cook for you before skipping off to complete the large order.

"You got a big stomach for a girl." Lavi smirked, his one eye playfully gazing up at her.

"It's a parasitic thing. You wouldn't understand." She huffed, arms crossing in front of her chest.

The red head chuckled. "Actually, it's my job to know these things. Being a bookman, you gotta know lots of things." He said matter-of-factly.

A quick smile bloomed across her face as she laughed. "It's too bad you go brainless whenever you see a cute girl pass by." She poked at his weakness. She had already seen a show or two of Lavi when his all seeing eye lands on a passing by cute girl. She was always with bookman when it came to knocking him out. Though he was her tutor, some of the respect she had for him in the beginning was gone.

"Ooooh is the great Luna jealous? I'd flirt with you too y'know if you looked and act more like a girl." The male said jokingly. This caused him to receive a death glare and a quick knock in the noggin before Jerry came back with their food. Luna's tray was large, all the food chaotically and yet neatly piled to fit while Lavi's was just bare and simple. Rushing over to their usual table, the two devoured their breakfast. Lavi at one point tried to steal a piece of her fruit tart pie, a sweet dessert that was cold but consisting of crème and white chocolate topped decoratively with slices of Strawberry, Kiwi, Pineapple, apple, tangerine and blue-berries. Luna never liked Kiwi, so she would always toss it off. When she caught Lavi trying to steal a bit, she stabbed her fork into the table, barely inches from his hand. Lavi retreated and didn't try again.

After their meals, the two decided to check up on the scientists busy at work to see if they needed a hand or two. None was needed though, as they were all busy signing away at paper-work.

"Want to go to the library?" Lavi asked, a warm smile on his face as Luna looked at him.

"What's fun about the library?" she frowned. She was already familiar with the place as that's what she always studied.

"Got any better ideas?" Lavi frowned.

She took a moment to ponder before an idea hit her head. "I hear they have a garden. How about there?" she asked softly. Lavi agreed immediately and rushed ahead, dragging her behind as they ventured till they found what they were looking for. It was just to the side of the castle, near the back where they found a door leading into a room made of glass, an abundance of plants lined up in rows. The room was vivid in color, sweet fragrances and soil filling the air. One by one they ventured through rows, studying the flowers and smelling them. The sun was healthily growing, the air cool but humid enough for the plant to grow and good enough for Luna not to feel miserable. After spending nearly an hour looking at flowers, the two ventured back into the castle, finding a lounge room full of finders sharing their adventurous stories and mild humor. The two joined in, listening and laughing, Lavi sharing his own stories along with them. Luna didn't share anything though. She hadn't gone out on a mission yet, and slowly, the thought began to bug her.

While rounding up their lunch, Luna had enough of thinking about a mission and decided to ask.

"Lavi, could we go out to the town and do something?" she asked in a low voice.

Lavi took a last gulp of his drink before sighing in relief, his stomach happy and full once again. "Sorry, no can do~!" he sang, making the French girl groan and lay her head on the table. "I'm sorry Luna, but Klaud told me not to let you out of the castle for any reason what so ever. As much as I would love to take you out, you're not ready for a real battle against an Akuma. If you got hurt, not only would I get in trouble, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you got hurt." The older teen frowned. The serious tone in his voice actually caught Luna in surprise. She could sense the sadness in it as he thought over the image of her getting hurt. She knew that asking again wouldn't help anything and sighed, before picking up her tray, taking it to dump the trash. Her red head companion followed behind.

"Hey, how about we go to the library now?" Luna frowned even more at the thought. She thought that maybe it was amusing to him because he was a bookman, but she didn't have a thing for books really. Studying more english would just be boring and would also take away the meaning to her vacation. "Trust me, there's a lot more stuff in the library than just books that teach you english. Follow me." He said soflty, answering her concerned look before taking her hand and pulling her along.

When he opened the Large double doors, the giant room of books was completely lifeless. Entering, he closed the door behind them before walking past her and rushing off to some strange corner she knew not where it is.

Passing by shelves, Luna looked around curiously for Lavi. "Where are you?" she called out. Her voice echoed off the wall, wincing in preparation for someone to yell 'shh!' but nothing came. She forgot that the library was actually completely deserted. Entering the center where tables lined up with chairs neatly pushed in did she find Lavi walking out another isle with something large but thin in his hands. Arching a brow, she watched carefully as he opening it and pulled out a large black disc. It was a record. And next to him, a record player.

"What are you doing?" she laughed lightly as she watched him place the large disc onto the player, placing the needle carefully on it before it began to spin, soft music rolling out of the speaker. It was beautiful symphonic music, the violins actually being soft and subtle unlike Gwen's violin.

"Pick out a book. I know a special spot in here that has couches that are really comfortable." He beamed before disappearing again. Luna shook her head before wondering aimlessly amongst the isles. Some books had titles written in different languages while others where named with long words she herself didn't know what they were nor could hardly pronounce. Turning into another isle, she found a rather easy going assortment of books. Children books. Smiling, she ran her hands across their soft dust covered covers carefully reading out each one in a low whisper before a specific one caught her eye, making her chuckle. Snatching the book, she ventured off to find Lavi, calling out his name softly to be replied by him saying "here". Flowing through the maze of books and shelves, listening for his voice, she found herself at a small clearance, hidden away in a thick puzzle of shelves to see two 1-person couch-like chairs and a table. Some books were neatly piled next to where Lavi was seated, as she guessed he picked them out. Sitting in the other chair close to his, she plopped herself and stared at the cover. Curiously, Lavi peeked over to see what she had picked. Her hand carefully whipped over the cover, brushing off the dust to show the image of a cartoon drawn princess sleeping in a bed with a thicket of thorns surrounding her, as well as a dragon fighting a man riding a horse.

Lavi couldn't help but explode into a little fit of giggles. "What a fitting story!" he mentioned between laughs. "Why on earth would you want to read Sleeping Beauty?" he asked, a bit interested in why the great Luna would enjoy such a simple childish story.

"I never really had story books as a child. My parents died before they could, and my grandpa couldn't read since he had bad vision." She muttered. Lavi's laughter was quickly hushed.

With a cough, he turned back to his own novel. "Alright, well… don't let me interrupt you." He mumbled before diving into his own little world.

For a while, the two read and read, Lavi's book full of words and history well described and timed while Luna's only had a few words but will drawn pictures. She would spend dozens of minutes on each page, studying them closely as she noticed the brush strokes, the tiny details in the hair and trees in the picture. She was entranced in her own little world as was Lavi while soft music trailed through the room. After reading a few pages of his book however, Lavi realized that the print he had was just a re-make, holding nothing new for him, so he closed it. Turning to look at Luna, she wasn't even half-way through with hers. From the few glances he took at her while reading, she seemed so into the book, but now her gaze was distant, not even focused on the pictures. It was then that he noticed her finger swaying slightly with the music still playing.

With a smile, he looked at her face again. "Do you know how to dance?" he asked softly, pulling her away from her own world with a startle.

Luna blinked, a bit baffled and stunned by the question. "No, no one ever taught me. I don't do dancing anyways." She shrugged, looking back down at her book.

"Oh come on, even if you do act like a boy, even some boys dance." The red head rolled his eyes, setting aside his book and standing up. "Here, I'll teach you." He said, snatching her to her feet.

"Lavi, I don't want to dance!" she whined, but it was no point. Lavi pulled her to the small clearance in front of the chairs, putting her in place as he took her wrists and placed them on his shoulder.

"It's easy, you'll like it, trust me." He grinned, placing his hands to where he thought her waist was. The white haired exorcist glared at him, thinking that he wanted to touch her just to be perverted, but as his eye looked down at her feet, she realized he was serious and followed his gaze. "Just follow my step, okay?" he muttered before movie his foot forward, the same leg on her side moving back. With each step, Lavi whispered to her what to do as the music kept them moving. As she understood the step, Lavi would add something different; a spin, a turn, a change in step. As flustered as she was for dancing, she was learning something new, and it actually slightly intrigued her. Not that she was growing fond of it, but she was just entranced by it instead. After 2-3 songs passed, Lavi took one of her hands into his, holding it up in the air as his eye locked on her face, the two spinning and dancing to the soft music. Luan's face turned beat red, making Lavi chuckle before she growled at him. He was having fun, and she was just going with the flow. The dance lasted longer than expected however, and the two didn't realize how much time had passed by before the record stopped playing, their bodies freezing along with it. As the two stared at each other, blush creeped up to their cheeks before the tension finally pushed them apart.

"I think I'm going to go take a nap." Lavi grumbled.

"Yeah me too…"

The two glanced at each other a few times before they left the library, separating ways for the rest of the evening.


	6. Chapter 6

Luna stood alone in the gym, lightly bouncing on her feet as she circled the punching bag before her. Wearing only a sports bra-like shirt and some gym shorts, the rest of her ghostly pale body was visible for anyone in the room to see, along with the beads of sweat running down her. Her hair was slightly drenched, eyes narrowed angrily as her fists pulverized the large sand bag, the metal chains holding it up creaking as it swayed. Panting deeply, she had been doing this training for hours and guessed it was time to stop, so she hugged the leather to her chest to making it stop swinging before heading towards the lockers. Glancing at a mirror as she passed by it, her biceps were pretty well toned, the faint hint of abs just over her stomach. Even her legs looked good, but she had to thank Lenalee for those with their training every few days of flexibility and agility. Pleased with her work, she took her clothes and made way back to her room to shower, rinsing herself off of the salt-like stench before changing back into a comfortable black turtle-neck sweater and her capris. Briefly shaking the towel over her head to dry, she did a quick brush of her hair before it was the way she liked it on her head.

It had been a few weeks now since she went on her mission with Lavi to collect the innocence off that ring. She hadn't really talked to him since. Usually they would pass by or run into each other during lunch, and he would always say hello to her, but she would just give him a dry look and continue on her way. She had met the newest exorcist as well, Allen. He seemed like a nice-guy, they shared a common of having parasitic anti-akuma weapons and would dine together on occasion, sharing new food while devouring a mountain load. Something about him always felt a bit off though, so she didn't bother pushing to know all his deepest darkest secrets. They trained together twice, but haven't gone out on a mission together yet. She was slightly excited to see his weapon come into use.

Miranda was another addition to their crazy family. Not a parasitic type, but she was quite nice. Actually, Luna had met her just after her mission with Lavi and was in charge of training her by pushing her/harming herself to test the limits of her innocence. There were times that Luna was frustrated for being so weak, but then she calmed and tried to help Miranda her best to teach her ways of fighting and how to not be so emotional about things in war. The two now are mostly always together, eating, talking and occasionally visiting the garden for relaxation.

Krory, the last addition to the family, was almost the same as Miranda, but wasn't so weak, just a big cry baby. Luna was also left in charge of training him, since he was too, a parasitic type. A bit weird to her with his type, but she sort of warmed up to him eventually. He was pretty close with Lavi though, so when the two were together, Luna would avoid them. She mostly found Krory in the garden, tending to the flowers. A bit of old habit she guessed when Allen told her of the condition and lifestyle he was living in when they found him.

Everything in the Order was suddenly coming to life after she went on her first mission. Klaud had finally decided to make her an honorary exorcist and no long her apprentice, which was of course celebrated by nearly the entire castle, Allen and Lavi the only ones absent. When she reported into Komui of what happened during the mission, she found out that he had a bit of a soft side for her and was rather angry at Lavi for making such a move on his 'precious Luna.' Lenalee later told her that Komui was trying to adopt her, which she kindly declined. Actually, it was with Reever that she felt more of a fatherly affection for. Long ago, her grandpa had a picture of her parents and showed it to her, and her father looked a lot like him, but with less hair and no beard. Luna would assist him by getting Komui to do his work and deliver papers from office to office. Things were starting to seem less boring.

Luna decided to grab a snack to eat when a Finder approached. "Komui needs you in his office. He says he has work for you." They simply said before she darted off in the direction. Opening the door to the busy book-lined room and paper-covered floor, she found Komui sitting at his desk with a folder open in his hands. Hearing the door creak open, he beamed as he noticed his French adopted sister.

"Well hello Luna~ Please, come have a seat so I can brief you two on your mission." The Chinese man sang softly, turning over some papers. As Luna sat down, her brow arched as he said 'you two' and just as her rear made contact with the cushion, she realized someone very familiar person sitting next to her. She groaned and glowered at Komui, scooting far away from the one she had to share a seat with.

"Komui, do I really have to go on a mission with him?" she growled deeply, pointing a finger at the very cheery red head.

"Oh c'mon Luna, you can at least say hi to me." He chuckled sheepishly.

The Chinese man sighed sadly. "I'm sorry to say Luna, but all our other exorcists are out on missions. Allen with Lenalee, Kanda with Marie, Klaud's team in India, no one else can go."

"What about Miranda or Krory?" she whined slightly, the frown deepening on her face. Lavi muttered something about 'be careful, it might freeze like that' but she ignored him.

"Miranda is not ready yet, and Krory is still under testing. Luna, I'm sorry, but you have to do this. Not only that, but you suit the part well. Besides, it's mainly Lavi's mission. You're going in as back-up." He smiled before looking down at the paperwork. "We have reason to believe that innocence is located within a school in England. Might I also add that it's a boy school." He paused for a moment, shooting a glance at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she yelled, Lavi bursting into laughter.

"A TOMBOY LIKE YOU WOULD BE A PERFECT UNDER-COVER!" he yelled before getting a quick punch in the peck, making him stop.

"Stop fighting you two and listen up. The boys in this school seem to be sleep walking during the night and venturing off into the woods. Some go missing while some don't, it's all random really. You two are to find out where these boys are going and find out if it's caused by innocence." He snapped the folder shut quickly. With that, the two got up and trudged off. Luna made sure to walk ahead of Lavi as to not see him or be next to him.

"Are you still mad at me? C'mon, it wasn't my choice, the innocence made me."

"That's a new one." She rolled her eyes, continuing to march ahead of him. Lavi shook his head slowly. There was no getting past her stubborn side.

Once the two got on the train, the finder delivered them their undercover uniforms which were just normal school clothes and told them that they would be exchange students from France. If there were Akuma involved in this, which are always, they could have some hidden in the walls of the school too, disguised as boys, and did not want to draw any attention to themselves with normal exorcists uniforms.

"We should probably get changed before we get there." Lavi said as he stood up, peeling off his uniform jacket. Luna stared at him, dumbfounded, which made the bookman Junior worried. "What?"

"Don't strip in front of me!" she hissed.

"I'M NOT GETTING NAKED, LUNA- less you get naked too. Then that's-BLARAGH" he was quickly hushed with her fists to his face.

"IN YOUR DREAMS PRETTY BOY."

"You called me pretty-OW!" another fist, but this time to his shoulder.

"Grow up!" she barked before throwing her boxed uniform at him. Lavi could only rub his cheek as it was slightly red. She didn't punch him that hard to bruise, but enough to hurt. In silence it was decided that they would change later into their uniforms. Sitting back down, she crossed her legs and her arms before closing her eyes to get some rest before they arrived.

"At least you can sit like a girl." The rabbit grumbled.

"Can it." Luna hissed, opening her one invisible eye to shoot daggers at.

"I don't know why you're so upset about things still. It wasn't even me the one under control of the innocence! You're the one who was pulling moves on me all day, then came over to my bed, kissed me and pulled me on top of you!" he barked.

"And you didn't do anything to stop it!" she yelled back even louder.

"I'm a guy, what am I supposed to do! If a cute girl comes onto me, of course I'm going to do a little something back!" the red head protested.

"You're just like the rest of the guys out there! A bunch of sick dogs only wanting a pretty face."

"Luna, really! If I didn't have the respect and love I have for you, then I wouldn't have done anything and kept on going till we have sex and passed out! But no! I got the ring off of you and then had to fight the dozen of Akuma waiting outside our window! **I had to kill an old friend of mine.**"

Lavi walked outside with his hammer grown and extended already as the Akuma floated around him. They were just level 1 Akuma, they would've been easy to defeat. But as he killed them off one by one, he didn't notice the person watching from the side of the street. When all was done, Lavi turned to see and notice that it was an old pal of his, Doug, at the side of the road. As he went to greet him, he watched as Doug turned into an Akuma before him. He fought and yelled at Doug for the longest time, barking at him on why he would be so stupid as to allow himself to become an Akuma. Dough explained that the woman he loved died, and was in such a depression that he had forgotten what would happen to him. Lavi, realizing that there was no way to fix things, finished off Doug. When entering the hotel room again, he was in a complete and utterly emotional disaster. The fuse of anger and sadness was mixing too deep as he reminded himself that he just killed off his best friend. But what was he to do? If he didn't kill Doug, he would've killed him instead. Unsure of his thoughts, it was Luna's gentle sleep talking that stole him away from his busy mind. Watching her sleep, her skin in the faint light, his heart swelled with warmth and compassion, the lonely feeling around him suddenly feeling stronger.

In all honest, Lavi was attracted to her shortly after he began teaching her English; the way she drowned into the words, how she pursed her lips as she read, the way her tongue clicked when quickly catching onto the language. If she had the good memory, she probably could've been almost as good as him with being a Bookman. It was during one dinner time with her that his heart began to beat her name. She was diving herself into some Fruit tart and vanilla pudding, emphasizing again how she loved it, and in perfect english too. Why it didn't happen during any other time she did the same thing, she didn't know, but wasn't long, just a few weeks, before the two set off on their mission together.

Despite Lavi's usual taste for gorgeous women with full breasts and perfect curves, large eyes and beating eye lashes, it was her boy-like figure that strangely drew him in. Sure at times he wished she could act like a girl, but she somehow won him over with her own type of charm.

Then staring at her there, sleeping in what was supposed to be his bed for the night, mumbling softly, it made him crack slightly. As he slipped into bed next to her, he was very hesitant on what to do. He tried sleeping on top of the cover, then under one layer, finally going under all the sheets, scooted to the far side of the bed and then slowly shifting closer to her. When his shoulder touched her, he froze, flustered and in shock of what to do. He contemplated for almost an hour before it was his name that softly escaped her lips that won him over again. With a sigh, he turned and wrapped an arm tight around her waist, pulling her into him. Her skin was cold at first, but then began to turn warm surprisingly. He cried that night, hating himself for killing Doug, but also hating himself because he knew he was breaking his code at that moment next to her. Her presence was comforting though, and with that, he was able to fall to sleep.

Luna sat in her seat, feeling a bit uncomfortable staring out the window. Lavi sat across from her, soundly reading a book. After saying what he did, she didn't argue with him anymore. She couldn't. Realizing how immature she was acting, she hated herself for being so mad at him. She was blaming him when he actually did all the work on a mission that was supposed to be hers. She was weak, and he had to rescue her from trouble.

Glancing at him every now and then, he was always in his book, not even looking at her or acknowledging her. Furrowing her brow in frustration, she took a quick sigh to collect herself. "Want something to eat?"

"Mmm? No thanks." Lavi muttered, turning a page. HIS EYES DIDN'T EVEN MOVE AN INCH TO LOOK AT HER. She gritted her teeth to hold her tongue and threw herself from the seat and marched out the cart, making sure to slam the door shut as hard as she good. She possibly splintered the wood, but the order was just going to have to pay for that part. It was just the car ahead of them that stored the food, and so the rest of her trip was spent there, chowing down on whatever small meals the train had to offer. In such a rage of feeling like an idiot and at Lavi, she stubbornly kept seat at the booth she had occupied herself in, the table and seat across from here piled with plates of food, napkins and utensils that she broke when the thought of Lavi hit her mind. To hell with the red head, she thought.

While Luna thought Lavi had paid no attention to her, he actually did, but the book in his lap did the job of somewhat keeping his mind busy. Deep down in his gut, however, he felt a tad upset at himself for unleashing on her and throwing all that in her face. It was her first mission, and she did it successfully, why did he have to go and ruin it by he did all the fighting, killing a friend of his, while she in the meantime just slept soundly in a cozy inn? When he finished his book, not much remembering a quarter of its contents, he sat flustered, worried, and couldn't throw the exorcist from his mind. What was it that she asked him before she ran out in a fury? Did she ask him something that he maybe replied rudely to? He hoped he hadn't, but then again, anything could blow her temper at this moment, so the range of possibility was rather wide. Long after the sun had set over the horizon and the train chugged through the night, he decided to go and search for her. When asking one of the train ladies if they had seen her, describing her looks, it didn't take long to get an answer, as the lady quickly pointed to the front dining cart. Lavi should have guessed that in a rage, a woman would have gone to stuff her mouth with food. It was a solution to cure one's soul when they were hurt, especially a woman's. When he entered the car, he could tell just by a glance to where she was. The high piled mess and cooks grinning proudly at their hard cooked food happily devoured while the busboys frown heavily as their work had suddenly doubled that evening. Grinning sheepishly at the staff, he approached the table, scanning the mountain of dishware for a human being. It wasn't until he stood next to the table that he found Luna, sleeping soundly in the corner of the booth, her head tucked comfortably between the wall and the seat. The sight brought a smile to his lips, he couldn't lie, but mentioning to the staff who they were and who to charge, he quickly picked up the soundly asleep exorcist and carried her off back to their cart and into their room. Her knees at his side and head rested between his neck and shoulder, Lavi could only with the walk lasted a bit longer before he had to lay her down. When placed back into her seat, she mumbled a little while wriggling before she was obviously comfortable once again. The red head caught himself staring at her for a long moment, he cheeks warming up just to a certain degree when the thought of resting next to her flashed through his head again. The feeling of her body against his and tiny frame being shrouded away from the world was just a seducing thought to the young man, but he knew that when she would awaken, the calm scene before him now would be a completely different story. Stepping away for his partner, he cut himself off from the idea, the only comforting thought he could do for her was to drape his coat over her for a little more warmth and ease before he sat back down and fell asleep with the last image of her resting soundly as she gently uttered and mumbled.

When the exorcists awoken again, they found themselves in the presence of their finder who had announced their stop was coming up ahead, and that a new finder would be escorting them to their mission location. Handing them their uniforms again, he made a clear point that they had to get dressed _now_ before leaving.

"Out." Luna said dryly, making the red head turn his head and raise a brow. Women were confusing creatures. Don't they understand that one word doesn't explain or mean anything to them?

"What?" Lavi questioned as the confusion on his face might not be enough for the French girl to understand.

"I'm not going to change in front of you, get out." She huffed.

"So I can change in the hallway? I don't think the ladies are that desperate to see me strip for them, and if they were, you'd be the first to get a private show." He winked playfully, making his partner groan in disgust and annoyance.

"You can get dressed _after_ I'm done. Out!" she barked before pushing him out the door and quickly slamming the door in his face again. Obviously, she was still mad at him. With a shrug, the rabbit leaned against the door, staring out the window across from him while the soft rustle of clothing could be heard behind him. The mental thought of her stripping for him, her tiny breasts cupped in small bras and tiny tight underwear constraining her tiny hips made him grin like an idiot, a tiny bit of drool collecting in a corner of his lips, eyes glazed with lust. Time seemed to last forever for him till the door went out from behind him, making him fall on his rear. Luna blinked over him when a disappointed cold gaze fell over her face.

"Pervert."

Again with the single words? "What?"

"You were fantasizing me stripping, weren't you?" she crossed her arms in front of her chest, her tone a tad harsher.

"Maybe~ Do you like the thought of me thinking about you doing naughty things?" he smirked.

"No, I don't, but it's obvious to tell you enjoy thinking nasty things with all that blood gushing out your nose." She hissed in disgust, pointing down at his face. It was true, he did have a nosebleed, but it was only a drop of blood, nothing major. With a flush of blush in his cheeks, Luna walked out with a simple exhale of 'disgusting' before closing the door again, leaving the red head to change.

It was a private, boy's only academy for smart, intelligent, foreign students. Such a prestige campus was sure to have uniforms, and they were as high quality as the top dollar could get. Raven black button coats with a white dressy undershirt and a black tie to match, with tight dark pants to match the jacket and shoes to blend. It was business casual, really, and once the two exorcists were done, the two found their train at their stop and quickly left, another finder dressed the same as them waiting to escort them to a carriage. England was beautiful, covered in country hill and giant stones, a few trees decorating the sides of the road. Lavi spotted a town in the distance outside the train station, but the carriage had taken a different detour route to reach the academy in time. Stuck in awe of the country, Luna felt a bit more at home as France was almost like this, and the village in the distance that Lavi pointed out reminded her a lot of home. Almost an hour later, when the carriage had suddenly entered a thick forested area, the driver of the carriage announced that they were almost at the campus. Watching the thick mess of forest slowly form out into neat lines, the two could tell when their ride was about to end. What caught them by surprise, however, was the actual campus. It was **huge** and five stories tall. You could maybe fit about a hundred people on each floor. Off to the side, hidden in the back was obviously the dormitory that the two found out later during their tour that made a block C shape behind the main building, and that the two circled around the main court yard that had a beautiful fountain. Passing through the halls, they were silent and empty, as all the students were in their homeroom classes. The principle of the school was the one to give the two their honorary tour, and when finally ending their round in his office, he finally ended his act and frowned heavily at the two.

"How long do you think it will take before these disappearances end?" he asked in a low tone.

"It all depends sir, it might take us a day or a week to figure out what's wrong. We need to be undercover this entire mission. The only thing you can do to help us is just to act normal and act like you don't know anything." Lavi sighed.

"Don't mention to anyone that this is being investigated on either. This is an undercover job." Luna last added. With a nod and a promise, the principle guided the two to their class, on the way mentioning where their dorm room would be. Luna was disappointed that she had to share a room with Lavi, but it was better than sharing a room with a random boy who doesn't know that she's really a girl. Even the principle wasn't told of her gender, but that was all part of the job. They had a short elderly man as their teacher, and Lavi, fighting hard to hold back a laugh when he saw him, couldn't help but be reminded of panda when he saw him. The two sat apart, Luna towards the middle section and off to the side while Lavi was in the center back to have a full view of the room and students. As lectures went on, Luna found it a bit difficult to watch the students while the teacher spoke, but only because learning something new had slowly begun to fascinate her since Lavi started teaching her english. She actually used a few pages of her notebook that was décor to her cover to write notes for an upcoming test that she might not possibly be a part of later. Lavi, who already knew everything, ignored the teacher and studied the students, noticing those paying attention to Luna rather than the teacher. He made key note on who to watch out for.

Once class was over, Lavi packed away his notes and books to go and catch Luna, but when he looked up from his pack, she was already conversing with some students.

"So where are you from, Nova?" one boy asked. It was the name Luna would have since Luna was too feminine.

"France." She nodded, her accent clear in her tongue. All the boys gawked and awed, the majority of them all rich english kids.

"What is your country like? Were campuses like this?" another asked.

"Oh no, we had a simple town school that everyone went to together. Our country was a lot like this, but less cold and the air always smelt of food." She nodded on. The boy's fascinations only deepened until Lavi stepped up behind his exorcist partner and smiled at the two.

"Lucky you, you're already popular with the class." He snickered.

"W-What? Am not." Luna shrugged, her innocent fluster making him chuckle. The boys laughed along, but were curious of the red head as they were of the other new student. Where was he from, what was his name, what was he like, the questions were endless.

"I'm Lavi, nice to meet you all." The rabbit grinned, waving a hand. The other boys introduced themselves and asked where he had come from. Lavi was supposedly from a French town, but his parents were English and sent him here for now until he graduated to help out with the family business. The story was that the two ran into each other on the boat from France and got to be friends on the train. It was all coincidence they would have the same dorm and class which made everyone laugh, but Luna was already thinking that maybe their story was a little too coincidental. Lunch had rolled around and the two were invited out to eat with some of the kids from their class, but they declined, saying they had to unpack their belongings at the dorm. Once the door was shut and locked, windows closed and any chance of being snooped on was cleared out, the two finally relaxed.

"Nova is a nice name. It suits you." Lavi snickered. Luna glared in his direction before unpacking the suitcase she supposedly brought from her home to be on campus. Inside were more uniforms, some casual attire, and strangely a gym uniform. On the bottom of the bag and hidden under a flap, a zipper hid away some secret contents. There, Luna found a folder describing the details of who the students were that had already disappeared, their friends, their class and dorms. There was even a flashlight and some little utensils to make her comfortable, and one thing she didn't expect, her stuffed rabbit.

"Why did Komui pack Dax?" she furrowed a brow, holding up the stuffed plush up for Lavi to see.

"Maybe he thought you would get scared at night being alone with a bunch of boys in a single building~" Lavi sneered, teasing at the female. Luna only growled and neatly placed the black bunny gently on the bottom bunk she called dibs on. Lavi was already used to taking top bunk since panda used his age as old excuse for not being able to climb. Once the two were situated, Luna felt a bit uneased in her uniform being so tight on her and unbuttoned the black coat that was tight around her waist.

"That makes you look more masculine." Lavi smirked as she loosened her tie just a bit.

"Oh, and like you look any less gay with your scarf on." She pointed out as the red head complimented himself with a white scarf to match.

"Hey, chicks dig the scarf." He fussed.

"Too bad there aren't any here."

"Well there's you~"

The French girl knew the argument was pointless and decided to find a bite to eat, her partner quickly following close before class were to begin again. Only two boys stopped to have a small conversation and welcome them to the campus before leaving them be while they ate until the bell rang, and then it was back to class. Surprisingly, the next teacher was female, who only taught math and science. All the attention the two had received in their first class was now gone as everyone gawked at the beauty before them, even Lavi. Luna, with a twisted face of disgust, just jotted down notes and tried to remember what was taught while boys constantly made sexual innuendo towards their teacher. Towards the end of class, Ms. Galle mentioned some clubs opening up in the campus; Chess, Art, Music, Swimming, Soccer and Volleyball. Immediately the two glanced at each other, knowing well that some of the students in their reports were from three of those clubs. When class ended, the two stood in the hall while boys rushed past to meet with friends for study dates, club sign ups or meet up at hang out areas.

"Looks like we gotta join some clubs." Luna sighed. This was a pretty deep mission for something so simple, but to avoid Akuma, it had to be done.

"Two were in the chess club, and then one from Swimming and Volleyball." Lavi noted.

"I can't join swimming, and we both know why."

"As masculine as you act, you have somewhat of a chest to give you away. Shame… I wanted to see you in a bikini too." A quick punch quickly put him in line.

"I'll take Volleyball then."

"Then I'm stuck with swimming. We both do chess then?"

"Sure." Luna shrugged before driving her hands into her pockets and scurried off to the dining hall. The scent of food was driving her nuts, and not having much for lunch, her stomach was aching for food. Of course, Lavi followed.

In the library, just up the stairs and off to the side, there was a separate room cut away from the books and silenced from those studying intently. In the chess room, the students sat at desks, quietly and intently focused on their game while subtle classical music played through the room. Being new, the two exorcists only got a small greeting before everyone went off to their games, some pre-planned and scheduled for today while others were just played by ear, and being strangers, no one wanted to play with the two unless they knew they were worthy of a game. Such a prestige campus had geniuses who didn't want to waste their mentality on the easy, and pursued challenge everywhere they went. So alone, in a corner, the two played a game on a somewhat old and aged board that was probably just one the ones shoved to the back of a closet. Lavi sat comfortably in his chair while Luna sat forward, brows furrowed and lips pursed as she thought hard of what move to make. The red head would be lying if he didn't say he found it adorable. He was actually surprised at how well she did in undercover assignments, and the fact she was getting really into this school just made it all more cute for him.

After about five long minutes, the female finally made a move before Lavi quickly countered, taking away two pieces she had carefully planned and placed, which of course, drove her into a rage.

"How are you so good at this?" she hissed, careful not the disturb anyone.

"Playing with panda, you learn a lot." He smirked. In return, only a growl was replied before she dove back into a heavy thought. Again, Lavi was entertained by her hard attempt to beat him.

"I didn't know you knew how to play chess."

"My grandfather taught it to me when I was little. When he wasn't sick, we'd play together every Sunday because he said it was good to exercise the mind before school." She muttered before moving a pawn. Lavi was actually surprised by the move and thought for a minute on what to do.

"I bet he was a great teacher." He smiled, scooting his knight over towards her tower. She could obviously see what he had planned and cut him off.

"No one could beat him. He was the best in the village." She replied.

This was the first time for Lavi that she actually was open about her grandfather and some facts about him. Back in the beginning, while he would teach her english, he would sometimes question her about him, but she wouldn't give him anything, stating it was none of his business, but he guessed that it was their close relationship now that had changed that. Still though, knowing about her past was interesting to him, as he was a bookman, and knowing things was just his thing. Sometimes though, he wished that he didn't know everything.


End file.
